"Oh my! Young Master Cheng! It's been so long! Where have you been all these years?"
"Yes, yes, it must have been seven or eight years since you left, right? You're still alive, why don't you ever send a letter home?"
"Your wife and children probably won't even recognize you anymore!"
The neighbors all came out and surrounded the man, chatting amongst themselves.
Cheng Huasheng pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses, and a burly man got out of the car. "Don't crowd here! Don't crowd here!"
The burly man was dressed in military uniform and looked like a security guard. As the neighbors backed away, the murmurs grew louder.
Cheng Huasheng walked towards the courtyard house without explaining much to his neighbors.
He walked toward the room he remembered, but before he even entered, he heard a woman's angry scream, "You scoundrel! You dare to steal!"
Cheng Huasheng narrowed his eyes, quickened his pace, and arrived at the source of the sound.
A beautiful, slender woman grabbed a man's arm, preventing him from leaving, and shouted angrily, "Give me back my money! Now!"
"What do you need so much money for, you widow with a good-for-nothing child? What's wrong with helping my family out? Money in my hands is mine, so get out of my way!"
Qiang Wulai truly lives up to his nickname; he uses his shamelessness to pocket money, and not content with just cursing, he also kicks women.
The moment he lifted his foot, he was grabbed and stumbled.
"How much money did he take from his family?"
The beautiful woman was stunned for two seconds by this sudden change. When she heard the sound, she looked up and saw unfamiliar yet familiar eyes, which made her eyes redden and her body tremble.
Tears then fell uncontrollably.
"This is your fucking... Cheng... Cheng Huasheng!?"
Before Qiang Wulai could finish speaking, his expression changed.
Cheng Huasheng grabbed his arm and slowly pulled Qiang Wulai's hand out of his pocket, prying his fingers apart.
Qiang Wulai held fifteen yuan in his hand.
"Zeng Qiang, you've come to bully people in my home?" Cheng Huasheng's face darkened.
The scoundrel's smile instantly turned pale. "No...no...Cheng Huasheng, listen to me..."
"Get out!"
Under Cheng Huasheng's ugly expression, Qiang Wulai ran away in a panic.
Suddenly, only he and the beautiful woman remained at the doorway of the room.
Cheng Huasheng turned to look at the woman, wanting to say a thousand words, but his throat was choked with emotion.
He raised his hand to wipe away the woman's tears, "Ailian, I'm back."
...
Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli spent half the afternoon setting up the chicken coop, creating a square enclosure of bamboo fences near the kitchen.
Zhou Mingli built a ramp above the chicken coop, looked at it, and said, "After we finish harvesting the wheat, we'll bring back some straw, mix it with yellow mud, build a roof on top, and lay straw underneath. The hens can then lay eggs inside."
Jiang Ci secured the fence firmly and asked curiously, "Is it as easy as you say? If we're going to raise chickens, don't we have to feed them? We're barely making ends meet ourselves, how are we going to raise them?"
Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao, who were standing nearby, raised their hands eagerly, "Mom! Let's go catch some bugs for the hen!"
Zhou Miao said crisply, "I can catch earthworms! Er Ya said that hens love to eat earthworms!"
Zhou Yang quickly tried to show off, "I can catch earthworms too!"
Zhou Yang's mouth was watering with envy. He chuckled to himself, "Let's fatten up the chickens and then kill them to eat the meat!"
Jiang Ci: "..."
Zhou Mingli: “…”
That unlucky kid deserves a beating.
Before long, Zhou Yang was lectured by Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli, who made him understand that his family raised chickens to lay eggs, not for him to eat chicken meat.
Zhou Yang pouted. He just wanted to eat chicken. Brother Da Zhu and Brother Er Zhu said that chicken was so delicious!
Because they needed to deliver meals to the elderly, Zhou Mingli and Jiang Ci cooked after finishing the chicken coop. They ate well in the morning and at noon, but ate something simpler in the evening.
After sending Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao to the Yu family's house so they could play with Da Zhu and Er Zhu, Jiang Ci called out to Yu's sister-in-law and then rode her bicycle with Zhou Mingli to deliver food to the elderly.
In summer, it gets dark late, and Zhou Mingli rides fast, arriving at his destination in no time.
"Don't go in, I'll go by myself," Jiang Ci said to Zhou Mingli.
Zhou Mingli was on high alert. "If there's any danger, call for help. I'll be outside."
Jiang Ci smiled and went inside with her lunchbox.
There was only one guard left now, and he was eating. He was sitting outside the room with his legs crossed, his lunchbox filled with meat and soup, looking quite comfortable.
Seeing Jiang Ci, who was so thin she barely had any meat on her bones, the man curled his lip and said, "Open the lunchbox and let me see."
Jiang Ci opened the door in response. The meal was the same as always: stir-fried wild vegetables, a steamed bun, and a bowl of soup.
The man broke the cornbread in half, mixed it with wild vegetables, and then used the chopsticks dipped in the vegetables to stir the soup.
A flicker of discomfort crossed Jiang Ci's eyes, but she quickly concealed it, holding the lunchbox without changing her expression.
After confirming that there was nothing inside, the man said, "Alright, you can take it over there."
"good."
Jiang Ci closed the lunchbox and walked towards the room in the far corner.
Suddenly I saw Shen Conghe again.
He stood outside, one foot raised and the other on his feet, swaying from side to side, his face pale.
Jiang Ci was startled by Shen Conghe. When she met Shen Conghe's gaze, she didn't know what to say, so she quickly looked away and walked to the room in the far corner.
Shen Conghe didn't intend to talk to Jiang Ci. Even saying a single word to the people in there would attract attention. The best course of action was to remain silent and stay away.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
